1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermoplastic toothbrush which may be transformed into a jewelry piece, such as a bracelet, or a toy after it is no longer employed in service as a toothbrush.
2. Description of the Related Art
The use of thermoplastics for forming objects has long been known. For example, Rosenthal (U.S. Pat. No. 2,377,042) discloses the use of thermoplastics to form decorative articles. McLaughlin (U.S. Pat. No. 3,352,960) discloses thermoplastic forming for the bending of plastic tubing. Wagner (U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,616) discloses thermoplastic forming for dental impression trays. Dellis (U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,878) discloses thermoplastic heat moldable hand grips for an individual's hands. Schneider (U.S. Pat. No. 2,385,588) discloses thermoformed clothes hangers. Antoine (U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,533) discloses a method for the hot deformation of a work piece.
In addition to forming thermoplastic objects using heat, Williams (U.S. Pat. No. 2,390,567) discloses the use of chemical baths for cold shaping of objects.
There have been many designs for toothbrushes having different handles, heads and bristles. For example, Pfleger (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 287,072) discloses a toothbrush with a wavy-shaped handle. Porter (U.S. Pat. No. Des. 389,312) discloses a toothbrush with a loop handle. Davis (U.S. Pat. No. 1,470,710) discloses a toothbrush with a loop handle which can be used as a tongue scraper. McCusker (U.S. Pat. No. 5,323,504) discloses a toothbrush which is non-resiliently deformable to change the angular relationship between the handle portion and head portion of the toothbrush.
It is also known that there is a current practice of plastically deforming ordinary toothbrushes into the shape of a bracelet by bending the toothbrush.
Although there have been many toothbrushes with different heads and different handles, none have been designed as a toothbrush with a novel decorative handle to be transformable into a jewelry piece or toy when no longer used as a toothbrush.